Their Time, Their Place
by DoctorSchmosby
Summary: Loose sequel to The Only Mystery Worth Solving. The Doctor loves Clara Oswald, and Clara Oswald loves him. But how will Clara cope when her new boyfriend is forced to move in? Earthbound, semi-oneshot Whouffle series.


**A/N: New fanfic time! New fanfic time! Yeah!**

**Okay, so I'm kind of psyched about this fic, so let me tell you a bit about it. It's a basic premise, really - the Doctor, stuck on Earth, comes to live with Clara (and it's set after TOMWS, my first fic, so... spoilers if you haven't read that). Done right, this fic will hopefully produce a great mix of beautiful Whouffle fluff and hilarity. I really wanna get it right, so please readers, let me know how I'm doing!**

**I've described it as semi-oneshot - what I mean by this is that each chapter will pretty much do its own thing, but chapters will still carry over unlike in true oneshot stories. If that makes sense? The Doctor and Clara from the last chapter will remember everything from all the other chapters, basically. But it's still structured more as a collection of stories rather than one long narrative.**

**Sounding okay so far? Well, I'm afraid I've got some bad news - as an 18 year old student, I'm pretty much busy all the time right now, and I will be until mid-June. So unfortunately, regular updates are not guaranteed until then. Unless you consider once a month regular... I'll definitely manage once a month. Like I say, I'm really excited about this fic, so I _will _be working on it when I can, but that might not be often.**

**One last thing - as of right now, I'm taking chapter suggestions, so please, tell me what you want to see out of this fic! There's a lot of potential here, so let me hear ya!**

******Well, if you're still here, thank you for reading, and I sincerely hope you enjoy this series! **

* * *

**Chapter One: Homecrashing**

CRASH! KABOOM! WHEEEEEEEZE!

The meltdown of the TARDIS's systems continued to get louder and louder, effortlessly drowning out the sound of the Cloister Bell - a sound that wouldn't have been preferred by the ship's madcap pilot. Unsurprisingly, the current emergency was the Doctor's fault, but it seemed unfair to him that the mistake was so simple, yet the solution was so complex. Out of necessity, he artfully ignored the flying sparks and small fires breaking out around him, trying in vain to determine where his 'repairs' had gone wrong.

"Come on, come on, give me a clue!" he pleaded to the hysterical TARDIS. Though he had never been overly satisfied with his twelfth set of vocal chords, they were, in times of crisis, capable of achieving a commendable volume. "37.8 seconds to crash landing! 35.7! Ah, 34.5! _Which one's the wibbly?!_"

He continued to receive no answer – the TARDIS was simply too busy falling to engage in conversation. The shaking inside the ship intensified as the speed of the decent increased on the outside. As the plummeting TARDIS became barely visible in the Earth's skies, and the countdown fell to single digits, the Doctor reluctantly stopped touching random wires together and braced himself for impact, clutching his bowtie for comfort. A TARDIS crash-landing of this magnitude was likely to hurt, but at least it wouldn't be fatal. He hoped.

Few humans saw the TARDIS reach the ground, but many noticed the blazing trail it left in the sky. The path of the ship was truly a sight to behold, resembling a shooting star that fell twice as quickly as the average, but shined thrice as bright. It was a beautiful image, but for most of the onlookers, it served merely as a momentary distraction – something nice to look at before they got on with whatever they were doing. But for one person, the sight meant a great deal more.

Closing the curtains, Clara Oswald turned out the lights and sprawled out across her soft, neatly-kept double bed with an equally soft smile on her face. For her, the shooting star served to remind her of the events that, from her perspective, occurred earlier that day. She remembered how the Doctor saw her at her most vulnerable, and the gesture he made in the hopes of never seeing it again. She remembered fondly the moment when she finally told him she loved him, and the first kiss they shared immediately before – that perfect, incomparable kiss…

Clara decided to leave the memory alone before she started making out with her pillow. Still, she couldn't help but wonder where the Doctor was right now. Maybe it was just wishful thinking, but there was a good chance that he was leaping right to next Wednesday, desperate to see her again. That's how their relationship had always been. She would go on living her life, and when she was a week older, there he would be, waiting for her. Her Doctor. Now her _boyfriend_.

It was a unique lifestyle, and something she cherished. Countless people had led regular lives on Earth, and many people in the future would enjoy careers as space-time travellers, but as far as Clara knew, she was one of the select few throughout history to live both lives at once. She was just an ordinary girl who experienced all of time and space once a week. That's the balance she had. And that was exactly how she loved it.

-x-

The next morning began a little later for Clara. Recently, her trips in the TARDIS had lasted longer and longer, which usually left her tuckered out when she returned on Wednesday night. Fortunately, she had nowhere to be, so when she read the time as 10:35, her reaction consisted of little more than an amused roll of the eyes.

After taking a few minutes to update her dream journal, Clara rolled out of bed and completed the rest of her morning routine at a leisurely pace. Her apartment was small and unremarkable at a first glance, but the keener eye could see how it subtly reflected her personality. Reminders and general cute messages in sticky note form littered the place, her bookshelf yielded anything from classical literature to books that she had owned since childhood, and mementos from her travels could be found in every corner of every room. It may have been a basic home, but it was unmistakably hers.

The moment Clara sat down for breakfast, a knock on the door disturbed the ambience of the apartment. Undeterred, she carried her bowl of cereal to the door with her – no visitor was going to get between her and her Coco Pops. She brought a spoonful to her mouth as she opened the door, only to swallow hastily upon seeing who was on the other side.

The Doctor was tired, confused, and ever so slightly cross as a result of his misadventures. Finding his way to Clara's home had taken him all night and three calls to Angie Maitland (who didn't appreciate being woken at eight in the morning), but here he was. And as soon as he saw Clara's face, as per usual, his smile rose to its apex.

"CLARA!" He burst forth, giving an awkward hug followed by a vigorous sniff of the Coco Pops. "Am I glad to see you? Yes. I always am. And I'm glad I found you, I was beginning to think you were homeless. What's with the bowl?"

Clara jumped on the chance to reply to something. "They're Coco Pops; they're the most fun you can have in a bowl". She held a smile on her lips as she took another spoonful. "Okay, well now that that's cleared up, what are you doing here on a non-Wednesday?"

The Doctor shifted his eyes around and scratched the back of his head, wishing he could have avoided the inevitable question. "Okay, so… I may have been tampering with the TARDIS a little. Re-wiring, that sort of thing pretty standard. Next thing I know, she's having this massive huff and decides to break down in the middle of god knows where, I think it might be her time of the month…"

Relatively unfazed by the concept of the TARDIS having a 'cycle', Clara typically elected to tease. "Thought you would have had a calendar or something. Or maybe you did, and that's the reason she kicked you out?"

"She did not kick me out!" The Doctor held up his protest for about two seconds before Clara's eyes changed his mind. "You know what, she might have kicked me out. So, that's really why I'm here. Can I… stay here… with you… for… a period… of… ti… me?"

The speed of Clara's chewing decreased as she stared with wide eyes, the question turning in her head. "You… want to stay here? As in, proper stay, move in, live _together_?"

The Doctor gulped and nodded, producing a list from his pocket that looked had it had been made in haste. "Yes, please. And I have with me a well-structured argument, if I may? Well, not well-structured, or an argument… you know what, why don't I-"

The mini-rant gave Clara more than enough time to put down her Coco Pops and press a firm finger to the Doctor's lips. "That won't be necessary, doofus, the answer is yes". She then slipped her finger away and crooked it

The Doctor replied not with words, but a sort of pre-pubescent sounding chuckle. He stepped in cautiously, his alien side somewhat nervous with the situation. Maybe he was intimidated by the prospect of domestic life. Maybe he was surprised that he had gained shelter so easily. But he shouldn't have been – of coursehe shouldn't. It was _Clara's_ home, after all.

Clara led the Doctor to the table and sat him down. "I'm assuming you haven't had breakfast what d'you fancy? We have Coco Pops, Coco Pops, more Coco Pops, um… are you a fan of toast?"

In the time it took Clara to rummage through her cereal cupboard, the Doctor was able to put his feet up on the table, realise how big of a mistake it was, and almost fall off his chair trying to pull them off. "You've got a cupboard full of Coco Pops" he observed, raising an eyebrow.

Giving up on the breakfast search, Clara pulled another spoon from a draw and placed it in the bowl on the table, inviting the Doctor to share the meal with her. "I can't help it, I love them. When I was five, I had this massive crush on the monkey. 'Course, now I have a bigger crush on a different monkey". She winked smoothly at the Doctor, who frowned just as soon as he was able to understand the jab, and took a seat opposite his. "So…"

The Doctor gradually looked up from the bowl of cereal he was rather enjoying. "So?" he repeated between crunches.

Clara casually rested her elbows on the table and fiddled with her spoon while keeping her gaze on his eyes, as if they were on a fairly intimate date. "So, what actually happened to the TARDIS? Takes a lot to separate the two of you".

"Not really. Literally, it was just… Doctor fiddles, TARDIS crashes". He stared straight forward for a moment, having some violent sort of flashbacks. "But don't worry, she'll materialise here when she's done fixing herself up. I hope. Better give it a week, you know how she is".

Resisting the urge to badmouth the TARDIS, Clara nodded politely. "Understood. Where is she right now, nearby?"

The Doctor took a hilariously deep breath, which served only to grab Clara's attention all the more. Seconds passed before he could finally bring himself to reveal the TARDIS's location.

"…at the pole", he breathed at last.

Anticipating a fun answer, Clara immediately and unapologetically burst into laughter. "No! Oh god, bet she's loving the pole!" The thought of the TARDIS contending (again) with freezing cold temperatures and unwanted attention from penguins tickle her all the more, as the Doctor sat rolling his eyes and hiding his cheeks.

When she calmed down, a realisation dawned on Clara that fixed a smile to her face. "So, you made a lot of effort to be here, then?"

The Doctor looked up, shrugging off the length of the journey from the South Pole to Great Britain, which was but a handful of heartbeats to a Time Lord. "I suppose so. Why, what are you thinking?"

"Just that…" Clara put down her spoon and focused on the Doctor's eyes, enjoying the sentiment that had sprung up in her mind. "So, you've got the sonic, you've got the psychic, could have gotten yourself into any fancy mansion or penthouse suite anywhere in the world, but you came straight to me".

The Doctor tilted his head inquisitively, as if Clara had just stated that the Earth's sky is blue. "Of course I did! Sure, there are some swish places out there, but going there without my girlfriend, brrrrruggh, no thanks Frank".

Touched, Clara wasted little time reaching over the table, grabbing his lapels and pulling him close for a peck on the lips. She giggled at the gaping fish look plastered on his face, and gazed downwards thoughtfully. "You're my boyfriend. It still feels weird to say".

The Doctor sat staring dreamily into space for a moment before getting to the business of replying. "Breakfast lips… yea-yes, yes… sorry, I didn't ask, has it been long for you?"

Clara unsuccessfully stifled a grin and shook her head. "We got together yesterday. What about you?"

"Yesterday. Ooh, that's neat, alright!" The Doctor stood to deliver a spirited high-five before sitting down again, somewhat more reserved. "You… are okay with me staying, aren't you?"

Clara tilted her head, suddenly seeing the situation in a whole new light. She had never heard of a couple moving in together after one day into their relationship, and she wasn't sure the Doctor had even heard of relationships before yesterday. But that certainly wouldn't change her feelings for him or them.

With a reassuring smile, she reached out and took his hand. "Of course, yeah, of course! Well, to be honest, I haven't shared a place with someone since uni, but it's us! What could possibly go wrong?"

The Doctor cleared his throat and produced another list from his pocket.

"Put it away!" Clara quickly insisted. She stood up and picked up the now-empty bowl, and hovered her breakfast lips over him before pressing them to his forehead. "It's okay, love. We'll make it work".


End file.
